ROLAND HOLST R.N.
Roland Holst
was a professor and director of the Rijks Academy in Amsterdam, and one of the
most prestigious artists in Holland. Strongly influenced by William Morris, his
work was highly personal and featured flawless craftsmanship. He executed only
16 posters, nine of the most brilliant being for the theatre, where he often
designed stage sets and costumes.
The exceptionally rare Faust is one of the most famous of Dutch posters. The
subject matter of Goethe's work fit Roland Holst's Symbolist and deeply
moralistic leanings perfectly (he was a devout Socialist). The fact that the
poster was created during World War I only heightened the meaning of this work
to the artist, who felt that the Germans were the very incarnation of evil.
The poster is full of restraint. The structure is symmetrical and extremely
simple. The color scheme is limited to two colors, yet achieves an incredible
richness through patterning reminiscent of Indonesian motifs (Java was a Dutch
colony at the time). In striking contrast to his highly compressed Lucifer, the
feeling is replaced by emptiness. Faust contemplates his terrible aloneness as
he sells his soul to the devil. It is a poster tour de force.
1910
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1918
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1920
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